Have Faith in Me
by lana-ismyqueen
Summary: Collection of Regina/Henry Mills one-shots from my prompts blog (lana-ismyqueen on Tumblr). Each chapter is a different prompt exploring their relationship.


**Prompt: Henry thinks it's Karma that his own child treats him the way he treated Regina.**

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"I hate you! I wish you had died instead!"

The door slammed, and Henry sighed in defeat, leaning his head against the wall. He didn't even bother going after his ten-year-old son. He had learned long ago that waiting until his son cooled down was easier than trying to talk to him when he was upset. Turning around, Henry walked back downstairs and made his way into the living room, where he sat down on the couch.

Sighing again, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. It was times like this that he really missed Grace. She had been gone for two years, but James had still not recovered from her death, and Henry knew that his son blamed him for what had happened. After all, Henry had been driving the car that day.

The twins (Emily and Mary) were too young to really remember their mother, but James had been eight when she died. While the girls really only remembered the idea of their mother, James remembered everything about her. The way she tucked him into bed at night, the way her eyes got all crinkly when she smiled, the gentle way she handled him when he was upset. She always knew what to do, and when Henry was at a loss for how to deal with his son, Grace had always been the one to step in.

The sound of his front door opening caused Henry to open his eyes and look up. Mary Margaret, Emma, and Regina came into the house, the twins trailing behind them. They had taken the girls out for movie and shopping with the Grandmas. When Emma saw the look on his face, she whispered something to the girls, who bounced through the house and out to the backyard. Henry could hear them giggling and chatting through the open window.

Mary Margaret looked down at Henry. "Is it James?" She asked softly. When he nodded, she put her hand on his shoulder for a brief moment and headed upstairs. Henry sighed gratefully. Mary Margaret was a lot like Grace. She knew how to handle James when he got like this.

Emma sat down next to Henry and Regina chose the couch across from him. They were silent for a few minutes, until they heard Mary Margaret coming down the stairs. She sat down next to Regina and met Henry's eyes. "He's going to be okay, Henry. He's just upset."

"But why?" Henry asked, his voice breaking with exhaustion. "No matter what I do, he gets mad at me. I can't do anything right, no matter how hard I try."

He looked across the room and saw a flash of pain in Regina's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had come, and Henry thought he must have imagined it.

"He's mad at the world, Henry. He lost his mom and he doesn't understand why. So he lashes out at you because deep down, he knows that you'll never stop loving him, no matter how hard you push him away," Mary Margaret said with a shrug.

Henry nodded. "I just don't understand why he acts like this. I would never treat my parents the way he treats me." As soon as the words left his mouth, Regina stood up and walked out of the room. Surprised, Henry followed her with his eyes, and he heard her speaking to the twins a moment later. "Is…is she okay?"

Emma and Mary Margaret exchanged a glance. Henry looked between them. "What are you not telling me?"

"Henry, I…" Emma trailed off, unsure of whether she should say any more.

Mary Margaret sighed and looked him in the eyes. "Henry, James treats you the same way you treated Regina when you were his age," she said, a regretful look in her eyes. She knew that her family had a large role in the way Henry had acted towards his mother, and she felt genuine guilt about that. Maybe this was her chance to make up for the role she had played in their still-shaky relationship.

"I never acted like he did!" Henry said automatically, but even as he spoke the words, he knew that they weren't true.

"Yes it is." Emma finally spoke up. "And that's not entirely your fault. We encouraged it. But even today, after everything that's happened, you treat her differently than you treat us. I mean, you named your kids after everyone but her, for heck's sake."

Henry knew that she was right. He easily could have named one of the girls Gina. Neither Mary Margaret nor Emma would have been offended that they weren't included. Henry had used the excuse that Grace was closer to Emma and Mary Margaret, but even that wasn't really true. Things were sometimes tense between Regina and Grace, but Regina had been the most supportive when Grace was pregnant with the twins. She had done so much, and after the twins were born, she had been the one to help Grace out day after day. And when Grace died, Regina had taken the kids out every day to distract them, letting Henry recover and mourn the loss of his wife.

Henry thought back to when he was a kid, right after the curse had broken, and for the first time in his life, he saw how truly terrible he had been to his mother. He had used her weaknesses to manipulate her into doing what he wanted time and time again. He had never truly forgiven her for what she had done in the past, even though everyone else had been able to move past it, even the ones whose lives she had ruined all those years ago. And Henry, her son, the boy that she had raised, had never been able to forgive her. He had always treated her differently than he treated the rest of his family. He had made it seem time and time again like he preferred the Charmings over her.

Shoulders slumping, Henry looked down. To this day, his relationship with his mother was tense, and now he couldn't help but wonder if it was his fault. If he had been able to move past her lying to him, would their relationship be different? Would he be able to talk to her like he had before he learned about the curse, before Mary Margaret had ever given him that book all those years ago?

Henry stood up, saying nothing, and made his way to the back door. He stood there for a moment, unnoticed, watching his mother play with his daughters. She was so gentle with them, so loving. It was easy for him to see now how lonely she must be. She had no one except for her grandchildren. Every night she returned home to an empty house, and she couldn't even talk to her son about it because he still treated her the way he had when he was ten years old, only instead of being vocal about it, he did it in subtle ways.

Clearing his throat, Henry caught his mother's attention. She looked up and gave him a small smile, but Henry could see the pain behind it. She was no longer able to mask it, not when he finally recognized that it was there. Stepping forward, he kneeled down beside her and put his hand on Emily's head. "You know, Mom, I've been thinking…"

"Yes?" She asked, her voice hesitant. There was a flicker of hope in that one word, and it made Henry's heart expand. Maybe there was still a chance for them.

"It's hard for me in this house alone with the kids. There are too many memories here. And with the girls growing, I'm beginning to realize that it's pretty small for all of us. Grace and I never intended for this to be our permanent house. We were going to buy a bigger one as soon as the girls got a little older."

Regina waited for him to continue.

"I was wondering if we could move in with you. You have so much room in that house, and it might be nice to raise my kids in the house where I grew up." Henry finished his proposal and looked over at his mother, waiting for her to respond.

Regina remained silent for a moment, but Henry could see a flicker of joy in her brown eyes. They were warm in a way that they hadn't been in a long time, more of a chocolate brown than the darker black that he remembered. "I would like that," she finally said, standing up as Mary got out of her lap.

Henry stood up and put his arm around his mother. Regina leaned into him, letting herself be vulnerable in a way she hadn't been before. Henry smiled as he kissed her forehead. This was a new beginning, a new start for his family. He knew that they would all be okay, and that his relationship with his mother would too.


End file.
